Just getting into leathercraft myself, I found leathermerchants.shop/ very helpful and reasonably priced. Just as a forewarning, they seem to predominantly stock garment leather, they've got an interesting range, the most variety being found in the pig/goat leather I think however they do stock Calf and Veg tan. Following the link provided, you should be able to navigate your way to their veg tan selection of shoulders and sides which range from £40 to £110ish i think (excl. shipping) I personally went into the London shop (I believe they are also based up north, however can't remember exactly where) and they let me wander around and look at what they had. Lots of choice, had a look at the veg tan stuff they had to offer, can't speak to how many marks or blemishes you'll find on the veg stuff as i didn't purchase any but the chrome goat/pig/calf stuff all looked great to me (again, as an amateur ymmv). in the london store, they have a great selection of "end of line" or sale stock downstairs for amazingly cheap, ranging from hair on hide, to ~3mm veg tan suitable for bags etc, to 0.7mm perforated leather suitable for.... I don't know to be honest... a vest? In talking to the staff they said they are getting a small range of tools, certainly for the London shop, cant speak to the northern location as I haven't ever dealt with them. Also, for Londoners there is the added bonus of a fittings and fasteners shop next door that have a decent range of hardware suitable for garments and bags, the stores are not related (to my knowledge). Staff are helpful, but I didn't purchase anything on my trip so i cant give my opinion on quality. having had a look at their stock i have a feeling most of it is likely plated metal. however here is the Etsy store if you want to check it out for yourself: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Trimmingshop?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=740788949#shop-info-banner

@SharpsWorkshop

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much! I'll pin your comment so others can see it!

@SJAtalier

4 жыл бұрын

@@SharpsWorkshop Thanks so much! Should point out I think they are still shipping from the northern location (shops are obviously closed, but they fulfilled a purchase I made early April? But I don't work there so don't want to say its a definite...) Keep making the awesome videos, really enjoy them! Would be interested to see something on completed early projects and how they look now? Lessons learned sort of thing. love the Instagram. Stay healthy and safe!

@SharpsWorkshop

3 жыл бұрын

@@SJAtalier Oh I don't know if you've seen it, but I've done your video suggestion a few weeks ago!

Very helpful. Just getting into it,and knowing ones leather suppliers is key. Thanks for talking to us from your shed. Subscribed for more. Greetings from Devon.

Excellent advice for beginners. Some very handy Information. Many thanks Mike c.

Fantastic video! Thank you. Some of the suppliers you mentioned I had not heard of but will try them. 😊

Hey buddy, great vid, thanks. hope you come back with more :)

Lol. Leprevo's site must have been built in the Geocities era. Fantastic video by the way. Audio and video quality is great, and the information was straight to the point.

@SharpsWorkshop

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much! I agree about the website, I like Le Prevo a lot but if I were them I'd have updated it in the last decade!

@kenclive7369

3 жыл бұрын

Website seems to date from 2002 in its design

I'm 15 and I've made a couple wallets however I wasn't sure on where to get leather from in the UK and this video has helped a lot. Thanks

great vid thanks for resource tips saved me so much time

@SharpsWorkshop

2 жыл бұрын

No problem!

Very useful I talk to my self in my shed workshop all day long. 👍🏻

@SharpsWorkshop

3 жыл бұрын

Who cares if nobody else is there, some things need saying! Usually swearing when I drop things in my tea, or complaining about my own shoddy workmanship!

As a newbie to leathercraft in the Uk this is really helpful thank you and good luck with your channel.

Informative - tick, comprehensive - tick, immaculate beard and hairdo - tick! Great stuff thanks

@SharpsWorkshop

2 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful! And thanks for the beard compliments =D

I'm lucky to have Leprevo on the "doorstep" and in normal times I can just pop in and check out the scrap bin for a few odds and sods and pay by the weight! Otherwise they're excellent for almost anything you need.

@SharpsWorkshop

3 жыл бұрын

Oh you lucky sod! I've never actually been to them or any other supplier in person, I was working in Northampton for three months but never realised was just round the corner from a huge number of them! Perhaps I'll get round to it post-virus.

@5springsadventure877

3 жыл бұрын

@@SharpsWorkshop Oh it's a proper "Emporium" in a beautiful Georgian square. All that's missing is the stuffed aligator hanging from the ceiling!(A,La Terry Pratchet!) I don't know how its been during the lockdown but normally theres just enough room to get in to the two counters and the rest is piles or rolls of hide of various types and qualities. The staff are brilliant too. If you're interested, heres a clip of some of the stuff I've made since 2008: kzread.info/dash/bejne/iZl8j7yto8e0YaQ.html I don't make much anymore.

a few other tanneries/finishing companies within the UK that can also offer great quality leathers.

Excellent Info I am just getting started and this has been invaluable! Keep the tips coming! would love to see some more stuff on tools and accessories...

@SharpsWorkshop

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much! I'll see what I can do. There are a huge number of leatherwork videos out there already, and I'd rather not add unnecessary videos to the world if someone's already done it to a higher standard than I can - however, if there's a niche, I'll see about filling it!

thanks finally I find a vlogger form UK. nice to meet you.

@SharpsWorkshop

3 жыл бұрын

Nice to have you here!

Sorry forgot to say: very good videos!

Thank you for your workshop ramble, I enjoyed it! I am thinking of starting out and need just this sort of advice for good suppliers.

@SharpsWorkshop

3 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

This was such a helpful video, thanks for posting! I’ve just started learning leathercraft in the Isle Of Man, been struggling to find somewhere in the UK to buy from!

@SharpsWorkshop

3 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Thank you so much for this video! It is exactly what I needed, during lockdown I've been starting out in leather craft from a side I got from Tandy, but I could use something a bit firmer. I found something that seemed right on the Weaver website but then I got to checkout and saw that shipping was going to be over £100. I have been struggling to find a supplier that is a little closer to home.

@SharpsWorkshop

4 жыл бұрын

Glad I can be of use!

Good video and just what i was looking for. info on UK suppliers. Thanks

Love this stuff

@SharpsWorkshop

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much!

This is THE video I have been looking for. I have wanted to do this for so long but where to buy has been an issue, and now thanks to you, I have no excuses 😉 have you thought about extending you beginner series to what leather to buy for small projects? Just a thought as this seems to follow on from ‘where to buy’ (what to buy 🤷🏻‍♀️) ......x

@SharpsWorkshop

3 жыл бұрын

Glad I could help! I'll have a look into that - good idea!

Cheers for this! I've just started in the hobby and sourcing affordable leather in the UK has been a bit of a pain.

@SharpsWorkshop

4 жыл бұрын

Glad you found it useful :)

really useful. im planning my venture into the hobby. and i really want to start.....cheap! i don't plan to sell anything(yet) so need too find some reasonably priced bits to practise the craft without wasting a nice bit of leather, or loads of money!

@SharpsWorkshop

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much - I reckon don't focus on selling things too early, as I've looked back and thought that I should have improved my skills more before doing so. Good luck!

Great video and really useful - thanks very much! I'm going to get started in leather craft (I'm an complete beginner) and I'm looking for my first pieces of leather to buy. I'd like to have a go at making simple cardholders/wallets, but from KZread I can see that most use veg tan shoulders at about ~1.2mm (3oz). Do you know where would be best to find that? The stuff from LePrevo appears to be a good deal thicker and the Crack website doesn't have prices on anything!

@SharpsWorkshop

3 жыл бұрын

Thank very much! It really depends on the colours you want and your budget. If you want natural leather then Le Prevo does have the thicknesses that you're after. If you're after coloured stuff, Artisan Leather do some 'value packs' for really cheap starter leather, that you can learn the very basics on. Hope that helps - it's a surprisingly difficult question to answer!

Hi, great video I'm thinking about starting my journey with leathercrafting for about a year now, I found many suppliers doing my research online, but some of them are new to me, so thank you for that :) I have a question about buying first tools - I can find some tools kits online and I understand that eBay & amazon could be a cheap place to buy the whole set but mostly it's some cheap garbage that will break fast. Are the kits on the website that You talk about provide better quality and are worth buying or it's always better to buy tools separately? I understand that depending what project I want to make I'll need different tools - but the thing is that I don't exactly know what I want to do :D probably a little of everything before I decide on few aspects that I like the most :) cheers and stay safe

@SharpsWorkshop

4 жыл бұрын

A kit from a decent supplier is going to be far more reliable than a kit from eBay - but I'm actually in the process of writing a video about which tools you can cheap out on! It'll be out within a couple of weeks but there are some other videos on KZread that cover this sort of thing too.

Hiya mate, I've never bought a full hide before just dabbled in wicket and Craig bridal leather. Have you tried the veg tan hides from le prevo? If so what are your thoughts?

@SharpsWorkshop

4 жыл бұрын

They're closed at the moment due to COVID, but should reopen soon. I've had an assortment of things from them, including: - veg-tan goat (brilliant quality, just not quite right for my use case), - some clearance dyed-through and burnished-style hides (always good quality, I've been really happy with them) - some veg-tan belly (good in places but a bit dodgy in others, but it was incredibly cheap and on clearance) The one thing I've not had from them is ordinary veg-tan! They've sent me samples out for free though before, so if you want to check it's worth a go. Based on my expeirience I'd say go for it, they've always delivered for me. Their descriptions and prices are fair. I wouldn't expect something as perfect as something priced at twice as much, but I don't think you can go wrong.

Great video, thanks for this. I want to make a tinder pouch, so I need a piece of thin leather to cut a 30-40cm diameter circle from. (I've never done any leather work before, so I'm starting with something very basic). Any ideas/help about what sort of leather I'd need for this? Some of the leathercrafters and bushcraft guys say "thin" leather, but they don't really define what thin is, nor where I can get pieces of thin leather. I've looked through the sites you mention, and spent ages online, but I'm none the wiser as they tend to use terminology that someone clueless (like myself) doesn't understand. Many thanks in advance for any help. Cheers

@SharpsWorkshop

3 жыл бұрын

Hello! I assume you want something that's quite thin and soft - we'd call that a 'soft tempered' leather and you'd probably want something less than 1.5-2mm thick. A bit of goat leather might be up your alley if you wanted to go for something vegetable-tanned, and a lot of chrome tanned leathers fit in with that category too. I've had a bit of Le Prevo goat that would have worked well for a pouch. Hope that's helpful!

@walkandcamp

3 жыл бұрын

@@SharpsWorkshop Thanks, that's great. I'll check out goat leather then. Cheers for your help.

@SharpsWorkshop

3 жыл бұрын

Glad I could help! Don't take my advice as gospel but glad to help where I can :)

Good to see a U.K leatherworker. Thank you for some useful information. Your stool making errr! not so much :)

@SharpsWorkshop

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much! If only I had any woodworking talent whatsoever...

Hi there, I am in UK and just starting out in leathercraft. I found this video really helpful so thank you. I wanted to pick your brains please. Up till now I have been using mainly splits from Metropolitan but now want to use something a bit better. I am considering the 'RIO SIDES 1.8-2mm' available from Le prevo, any thoughts??? Also, how does this compare to the 'ECONOMY VEG' from Identity Leather??? They kinda sound like the same thing to me...is that a fair assumption??? At the minute I am mainly making wrist cuffs and small card holders. Look forward to hearing from you. Tony (Nottingham)

@SharpsWorkshop

2 жыл бұрын

Hello! I'm afraid I haven't used either of those specific leathers I'm afraid! It might be worth emailing them both to see if they'd send you some samples :)

@tonymaidment1693

2 жыл бұрын

Ok, no worries, really appreciate yo taking the time to reply.

hi, I'm just starting to learn leather craft and I was wondering if you could give me a little advice... I want to make a leather-bound diary for my niece. I've got a design for the leather but I don't know what type of hide and thickness would be best for the journal itself - for dyeing, or precoloured leather that can be stamped/embossed/debossed etc. could you recommend anything? also wonder how to make a design stand out from the actual cover colour. Cheers and thanks for the videos

@SharpsWorkshop

3 жыл бұрын

I'd say a panel of some pre-coloured veg tan would be a good idea to start with (so you don't commit to a big size and more than you need). Embossing is easiest on veg tan; you just need water instead of heat. The thickness is up to you, but between 1-2mm is probably the right sort of ballpark depending on your plan. For making the design stand out, look into antiquing! It's a way of darkening the indented bits without significantly darkening the others. Glad you like the videos!

@LocoSajoca

3 жыл бұрын

@@SharpsWorkshop thank you for taking the time to reply to me and the advice, thankfully as she's only 3 and I want to give it to her for her 10th birthday I have a lot of time to learn and practice. I'll definitely look into antiquing and embossing. take care 👍

Thinking about starting leatherwork as a hobby and have no idea about how to go about it. Wondering if you could help as there are loads of leatherworkers on here from the USA but no home here in blighty.

@SharpsWorkshop

2 жыл бұрын

There are some brilliant Facebook and Discord groups out there - it's just a case of knowing where to look! Search 'leather working uk' and you'll start to get some good results :)

Show us what you make!

@SharpsWorkshop

4 жыл бұрын

I'm currently filming a more cinema-style look at my process for making belts, but it's taking ages - in the mean time, my instagram (found in the video description) has some photos of my work on it!

hello can you help me sombody i wanna shop leather but in europe shome shop in germany poland czech sombody can help ?

@SharpsWorkshop

4 жыл бұрын

Hello! I'm afraid I don't know a huge number of suppliers but I would think that your Italian leathers would be the mainstay - Badalassi Carlo and others. I know that a site called Bobrikov are based in that sort of area of Europe (possibly the Czech Republic), but apart from that I'm afraid I can't be much help!

Me: Wanting to get into leathercraft, it's been a family thing for generations given that I'm born/raised Northamptonshire. Unable to find any decent nearby suppliers and thinking it weird. Also me: *Sees AbbeyEngland* "Oh, I've heard a lot about them" Sharp: "Based in Northamptonshire, the home of leather in the UK" Also, also me: "Well, blow me."

@gamernick1533

3 жыл бұрын

Also, also, also me: *Looks it up* Abbey England is actually based in Cheshire now, not Northants!

@SharpsWorkshop

3 жыл бұрын

Whoops! My mistake! They're good wherever they are =P